Rating: 
Summary: Honor back from the dead
Review: David Weber scores again with the highly anticipated ninth book of the Honor Harrigton series. I enjoyed this book a lot. It keeps right on moving with a fast pace and many of the gems readers have come to expect from the HH series. I couldn't put this book down. It was riveting. I wish "War of Honor" (#10) came out NOW! Honor now comes full circle, becoming more politically minded, taking care of her steading on planet Grayson and having plenty of time to play with her tree cat. Being and Admiral and one of Queen Elizabeth's personal friends could be a lot for one woman to handle but Honor takes it in stride and soars. I would recommend this series to anyone, it makes you want to stand up and be counted. Newcomers should start with Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington ...and others already introduced should thoroughly enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: FIVE STARS IS NOT ENOUGH
Review: I feel that I must set the record straight. At the time that i read the reviews here I was disgusted by the fools who say this is a bad book they have ABSOLUTELY no appreciation of genius this is a great book it demonstrates all I have expected from weber. I have read many of his books and I say this is definitely his most popular and most thorough series I have read in a long long while he made a possible 4 stars book into a ten star book. He could have easily made this series much worse though I admit he could have made it a little better but that is all pure hindsight and probably because of my tad different taste then him but as this reviews title clearly shows this is a terrific book and I challenge those nay sayers to do a better job and not just point out books that they feel are better. IF THEY THINK THEY CAN DO BETTER PROVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: I hate myself for reading these books
Review: I wish I could say that reading the HH is like eating candy -- momentary pleasure followed by guilt. No, most of the time I don't even get the pleasure. I'm too busy being irritated by how the author sets up his simplistic villains (well, all the characters are simplistic in the Honorverse -- if they have more than 4 character traits, they're considered fully fleshed out) and his ridiculous political commentary.All of Honor's enemies are E.Vil. Our poor innocent heroine is always perfect, trying to do the best for everyone concerned, while religious or political zealots who Don't Understand the Perfection that is Truth, Justice, and the Honor way do their best to bring her down. Honor, being in all ways worthy of our collective adulation (she must be, since the reader is told how wonderful she is on every other page), ultimately prevails against all odds. Sounds like fun? No, it's not. It's endlessly tiresome. The first books in the series were fluff, but good fluff. Since Weber fell head over heels in love with his character, I have to slog to get through the later books. I only continue because I sadly do see the potential for good space opera in his basic story structure, and so I hope that THIS will be the book where it all comes together. After this book, I'm giving up on this series entirely. Yes, I GET IT. Honor's wonderful. Except, I would much rather come to my own conclusions about a character. SHOW ME why she's amazing, and then you don't need all the characters in the book to give endless exposition about her heroic qualities. Give me Miles Vorkosigan, a flawed, fully developed character in addition to being a military genius. I think I'll go back and read Bujold's Memory.
Rating: 
Summary: barely adequate
Review: I enjoyed each and every one of the Honour Harrington series - before this book but oh what a disappointment "Ashes of Victory" is compared to all his previous in the series. There are basically a couple of hundred pages were little of interest happens and then the enemy are killed in the last few dozen pages by an amazing new weapon. Honour doesn't even get involved in combat because she becomes a teacher for goodness sake! Only buy this book if your expections are low. I felt David Weber was selling this book based on his reputation AND I see from one of his most recent releases SHIVA OPTION he may be doing the same again. The Shiva Option is the fourth an final book in the series and readers have been waiting (with baited breath) since 1997 for this finale and for what another disappointment?
Rating:
Summary: really, really, trite
Review: this book makes me wish I owned an sort of incidiary device that could properly take this out of circulation. If you want thousands of words about Honor's Honor-
and endless courage-
and awesome brilliance-
and irresistable physical appeal-
and loyalty-
and fearless leadership-
and deserving success-
etc.etc. ad infinitum, this is the book for you. Of course, little if anything happens between its covers to support all this nonstop praise. Oh, she <i>is</i> made a Duchess, in addition to being a steadholder, but she is also made richer than anyone can apparently imagine without at least three unimaginative chapters to describe it. WATCH as she has not one, but two oversize statues constucted in her honor (pun intended, sorry)!!
WATCH as she tries unsuccessfully to turn down promotion after promotion to higher and higher posts such as Admiral of Something or other!!
STARE IN WONDER as she meets and greets dignitaries who stand in awe of her!! there are some decent bits about prejudice and some interesting notions about xeno-biology or sociology or something. Mainly it reads like a treatise on the justice of hereditary monarchies, besides being boringly soap-opera inspired. there is none of the action that Weber is known for. Never buy this and THANK YOURSELF, apparently everyone would if you were the protagonist of this silly drivel.
Rating: 
Summary: Takes a while to get going
Review: Honor Harrington returns, both in this book and to her home, having escaped the clutches of the Havenites. Politics seems to dominate everywhere, with scheming taking place on both Manticore and Grayson. Meanwhile, the Star Kingdom of Manticore is feverishly deploying new military technology as a defense against the suddenly successful Havenites. Most of the first two-thirds of the book seems to be setup for the last third, which gave me the feeling that the book could have been a lot shorter: it took a long time for anything truly interesting to happen. It really just doesn't seem up to the level of the early books, and Weber seemed to be somewhat self-indulgent, with too many feeble attempts at striking a humorous note. Once it gets going, though, it's characteristically lively. And for all my impatience with the book, I'm still eager for the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Was there an editor involved in this?
Review: I've enjoyed this series from it's beginning, but I'm disastified with this book. Weber has become popular enough that Baen seems to have stopped editing him entirely. The three page exposition on why do-nothing, careerist navy officers resent warrant officers is a perfect example. It could have been done in three sentences, but because it rambles on for too long, it detracts from the more interesting things around it. Weber also drifts to far into cliche, and because of that, into predictability. As soon as you recognize the cliche, you know what the next 20 pages will be about. For newcomers to the series, please read the other books first. For fans of the series, keep your fingers crossed, maybe the next one will be better.
Rating:
Summary: It's called diplomacy and government people!
Review: Come on guys, I see all these whiny reviews about "Honor doesn't take her ship and crew into hell in this book! We wanted to see her take 5 SDs with a Destroyer!" Well, I hate to break it to you but Weber is trying to create a living world here, and for us to take it as living it has to be believable. And this is believable. If I was Saint-Just I would've done the same thing... well if I had thought of it I would've. The governmental infighting is great. If this series becomes one of more thinking to augment the already strong action, more power to it! I thought it fleshed out more personality than ever from Nimitz, White Haven, and Mr. and Mrs. Harrington. This book was interesting and deep, and it proves that Weber can write good stuff that isn't totally reliant on combat. Go buy this book. Send copies of the series to your nerd friends for Christmas. Spread the word people, this is THE SF series, and if you're selling out now, your loss.
Rating:
Summary: On our "Honor"
Review: If you have not yet read any of the "Honor Harrington" series
DO NOT start here. But do yourself a favor and go back to square one with "On Basilisk Station". By the time you reach "The Honor of the Queen" you'll be as "Honorably" smitten as the rest of us and have time to put "Ashes of Victory" on your Christmas list. And if not you're reading the wrong genre.
Rating:
Summary: Adequate
Review: This book is not as action packed as the previous books in the
series. There is a lot of wrapping up of the war and foreshadowing of the inevitable sequel. If you are into the series, you should probably read this book to see how things are wrapping up. If not, skip it, there is a lot of material that would not make sense to someone without the background of the rest of the series.
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